CES 2025: Our Insights and the Best Strategies to Stand Out

By Rachel Almas

CES 2025 brought together more than 140,000 attendees and 4,500 exhibitors. It’s known as the most powerful tech event in the world, and the perfect opportunity to shape the future of tech while capturing the attention of a massive global audience.

The show has proven successful for many of our B2C and B2B clients over the years. And at this year’s show, we saw the floors packed with everything from self-driving (and flying) cars, to sustainable power solutions, smart home tech, micromobility vehicles, mobility aids, AI avatars, fitness devices, beauty and fashion tech, and just about every form of robot you could think of – robotic emotional support dogs, a robotic vending machine that can dispense cotton candy, a robotic vacuum that can also pick up your socks, robots that shake your hand and hand out coffee, and robotic lawnmowers that take the stress out of home care.

In such a competitive space, how can you make sure your brand stands out? Here are our key insights from CES 2025 on how to boost your presence and ensure your brand leaves a lasting impression:

Elevate Your On-Site Experience

CES 2025 brought more than 6,000 media, content creators and industry analysts. To impress this crowd, it’s not just about showcasing products, it’s about creating an immersive experience to remember. Product displays, brochures and branded swag are essential, but taking things a step further to entice engagement and organic social sharing can help create an unforgettable and energetic atmosphere.

Some of this year’s hottest booth displays that caught our eyes featured live product demos and test rides (seeing is believing!), themed throwback and futuristic experiences, live music including DJs, eye-catching video displays, life-size installations, giveaways/prizes, robots greeting guests, movie-theatre style setups, virtual reality activations, digital gaming activities and much more.

Looking for other ways to capture attention while on-site? Consider hosting an after party during CES week. When done right, these parties can serve as a wildly successful hub for networking and relationship building with key media, influencers, prospects and partners. Plus, they bring the opportunity to help shift desired brand perceptions and elevate the overall story you’re looking to tell.

Many brands may think the investment is far too large, or that the turnout won’t be as strong unless a big-name celebrity is in the room, but that’s far from the case. Sure, it would be amazing to have a star like Snoop Dogg or Meghan Trainor at the after party, but these activations can be just as successful otherwise with the right strategy in place. And we’ve witnessed that first-hand at Matter! The key? Start the planning process and guest outreach as early as possible, provide value and excitement to those you’re inviting, and do your homework to avoid overlapping your party with another from a brand that many may have pre-existing plans to attend.

Maximize Your Time Beyond the Show Floor

We often get asked from clients and prospects: what’s the most important thing to keep in mind for CES? And our answer is simple: having ample time to strategize, plan and execute to maximize exposure, attendance and impact. After all, the CES experience starts well before the exhibitor hall doors open in January!

To maximize your time beyond the booth, and to set yourself up for a successful drumbeat of media coverage, here are a few recommendations to consider:

  • Set up as many pre-CES briefings as possible with top media in November and December prior to CES. Tip: consider group sessions to meet with dozens of media at once, and have your press kits ready to go at this time so that reporters can easily get their stories filed and ready to go in advance.
  • Consider putting your leaders at the forefront of the conversation by amplifying thought leadership exposure through speaking engagement opportunities. This year yielded an impressive speaker line-up, with keynotes from the founder of NVIDIA and CEOs of Delta and X Corp.
  • Actively seek out award opportunities, including those that are given to brands at booths on-site. Not only do these awards help garner positive brand recognition and credibility, but they also help fuel great content that can be amplified across various PR, social and marketing channels.
  • Look for ways to network with others beyond your confirmed booth appointments. Take advantage of those spontaneous interactions on-site, whether it’s a quick intro to anyone walking by, chatting in the halls or meeting at a local coffee spot.
  • Coordinate personalized follow-ups post-CES that reference specific conversations had on-site, offering additional follow up materials or product samples to increase the chances of coverage. We typically see post-CES media coverage continue to run for our clients into the spring, so it’s important to keep that dialogue open in the weeks and months to follow.

Embrace the Power of Influencers

Partnering with influencers at CES in both an organic and paid capacity can help bolster overall awareness, social chatter and purchase intent amongst key consumer audiences, including those who are keeping up with the latest CES trends from the comfort of their home. The show typically drives a diverse mix of tech and lifestyle creators each year, from long-time tech-fluencers with macro followings, to micro and mid-size influencers who are just starting to build out their brand, to larger public figures who were seen browsing the show room halls this year like Martha Stewart, Will-I-Am and Sophia Bush.

Influencers can create a sense of relatability, making your brand stand out in a sea of cutting-edge technologies. By collaborating with the right partners that are an authentic fit for your product or offering, you can effectively capture the attention of key audiences and leave a lasting impact.

CES 2025 was a showcase of the world’s most exciting technological innovations. But with so many groundbreaking products and bold new ideas, it takes more than just a killer product to stand out. By creating memorable experiences, you can ensure your brand doesn’t just get noticed—but remembered.

What are your takeaways from CES 2025?

Interested in learning more about how we can help differentiate and elevate your brand at key events like these through PR, social, influencers, digital marketing or creative services? We’d love to connect!